4 ISIS leaders killed in airstrike that wounded 7 US soldiers

Last month, a U.S.-Iraqi military airstrike in western Iraq killed four senior ISIS leaders, including the group’s top commander in Iraq and its chief bomb maker, for whom the United States had offered a $5 million bounty, the U.S. military said Friday.

Four ISIS leaders were among 14 ISIS fighters killed in an Aug. 29 airstrike on four locations in western Iraq. Seven U.S. soldiers involved in the airstrike were wounded.

“This operation targeted ISIS leadership and was intended to disrupt and degrade ISIS’s ability to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against Iraqi civilians, as well as U.S. citizens, allies, and partners throughout the region and beyond,” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement Friday.

“As part of the ongoing assessment following the airstrike, CENTCOM can confirm that four ISIS leaders were killed, including: Ahmad Hamid Husayn Abd-al-Jalil al-Ithawi, responsible for all operations in Iraq; Abu Hammam, responsible for overseeing all operations in western Iraq; Abu-Ali al-Tunisi, responsible for overseeing technical development; and Shakir Abud Ahmad al-Issawi, responsible for overseeing military operations in western Iraq,” it added.

Abu Ali al-Tunisi has been described by the Rewards for Justice website as a “production leader for ISIS in Iraq.”

“He provided training to ISIS members, including instruction on how to make explosives, suicide vests, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Al-Tunisi also provided advanced training in weapons development and chemical weapons production.”

CENTCOM previously reported that some ISIS fighters involved in the raid were armed with grenades and wearing suicide belts with explosive devices.